Bless the Broken Road
by Codywolf
Summary: How did the NEST team become so close? Well, it started with one argument between Captains...takes place during "Second Chances Come Wrapped in Barb Wire".
1. First Encounters

_She was tired, dirty and not about to give up. She didn't have to be here, none of them did, but none of them could just sit back when it was their own brothers in trouble. And of course, it was an all boy squad. She could feel their eyes on her now as she took the crying child from their Captain. Captain Carolyn Williams shot the man a glare before walking away, "Brady, jacket!"_

_"Yes, sir!" One of her own men threw her his jacket and she wrapped it around the little girl, shushing her quietly. Had to be no more than 4 years old. Didn't they see the girl's dead mother only feet away? No, of course not._

_"Cap, your cell's ringing," Jeff came over, their comms man. Carolyn had ordered all her men to turn over all their phones to him, keeping them focused on clearing the city._

_"Who's it from?"_

_"Your dad."_

_"On what phone?"_

_"Work."_

_"I'll take it," Carolyn sighed, taking it. Only that man could get to her in the middle of a war zone. "Yeah, Dad?"_

_"You alright?"_

_"Yeah, why?"_

_"Em just called, said you were on the telli."_

_"TV, Dad. I'm fine. Me and the guys just came out to help clean up the mess. Let Em know I'm fine and will send her an email as soon as I have time."_

_"Okay, be safe."_

_"Always," Carolyn smiled before handing the phone back to Jeff. "He says to kick the ass of the next Ranger who looks at mine the wrong way."_

_"With pleasure," Jeff and Brady laughed as they got back to work. Carolyn looked down at the little girl. She was silent, snuggled close, sucking her thumb._

_"Lets go find you some friends," hopefully she was lucky and had some left._

She rubbed her eyes tiredly, looking around the Land Rover she was currently sitting in with Brady and Jeff on either side of her and Danny up front in the passenger seat. Their driver had said to just call him Brawn and then pulled his shades on and raced out of the airport. It had been around 11 at night when they had landed back at base somewhere in Iraq, the location had been classified. As soon as she and the boys had set foot on the tarmac, Brawn had come up and said they had new orders and were to come with him. She was tired and crabby and she wanted to do was curl up in her bunk till they had to report for duty two days from now. Instead she found herself squeezed between Mr. All-I-Do-Is-Live-In-A-Gym and Mr. I-Was-Gonna-Be-A-Pro-Wrestler. And of course she was queen on the skinny yet deadly, so she just barely fit. She was used to it by now, but really made she had lost at "Chewie" and to Danny of all people!

She wasn't the only one up. Danny was talking to Brawn, discussing (I wonder what?) weight lifting! (I knew it) She sighed and focused her attention outside and frowned, "I thought we were in the middle of the desert?"

"You were when you fell asleep," Danny chuckled, turning to face her. "We got loaded on a carrier at another base and were flown here."

"And here is where, Daniel?" She hoped that talking to Mr. I-Eat-12-Dozen-Eggs-For-Breakfast did not make him forget that she using his full name was placing him one step away from her pulling rank AND kicking his ass.

"You're making names for us again," Brady laughed as he stretched next to her.

"Am not! Where are we?"

"Are too! Diego Garcia," Jeff nudged her. "I was enjoying cuddling with you."

"We were not cuddling nor will we ever cuddle," she growled, glaring at him.

"Come on, I think someone needs a hug!" Brady wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

"Rape!" Carolyn gasped out, struggling against Brady.

"What did we tell you about making names?" Danny laughed. "You get hugged."

"This is mutiny!" Carolyn finally was let go, shooting a glare at Brady, who just smiled innocently. She sighed and focused back on Danny, "You've been awake the whole time?"

"Yup," Danny nodded. "We landed about five minutes ago and were offloaded. Left the main base long ago and Brawn here said we're headed to a special ops base farther down the beach. More isolated, only one road in and out."

"So, Brawn, can you tell us why we are here?" Carolyn leaned forward so she was between the driver and Danny.

"Nope, the Major will handle that. I'm just transportation," Brawn chuckled. Inside joke, possibly.

"And the Major is?" she continued to press.

"Look, Captain, I cannot say anymore. Those are my orders from my Commander and I really don't feel like disobeying them. Personally, my money is on you when the who thing goes down," Brawn shrugged.

"What thing?" Brady frowned.

"You'll see. I love it when humans fight," Brawn smirked as they pulled through the gates and onto another base.

"Wait, what do you mean humans?" Carolyn tensed. Brawn didn't answer, just stopped and the doors popped open.

"Welcome to your new home," he climbed out himself nodding to where three men were standing in front of a semi, a Topkick, a Camaro and a Porsche. Brady glanced at the others before slowly climbing out, watching the men carefully. Jeff and Danny went out their doors and moved around so they were facing the men as Carolyn climbed out from Brady's door, straightening her black shirt as she turned to the men and froze.

"You!" she and the one guy said at the same time. He was standing in the middle of the three, arms crossed, his eyes hard as he glared at her. He was wearing a black shirt and tan cargo pants tucked into black combat boots. His glasses were pushed up on his head. On his left stood a black man in similar garb, but his shirt sleeves had been ripped off, showing an impressive set of muscles...if she hadn't seen that sort of thing every single day. On his right was a stockily built man with greying hair and matching grey-blue eyes. He was wearing black boots, jeans and a dark blue shirt. He was watching this interaction with calm eyes while the man on the left frowned deeply, glancing at her boys, assessing the situation.

"When you said Captain Williams, I didn't think you meant that Captain Williams," Captain, no, Major William Lennox growled. Oh, this was not gonna end well at all.

**_Whoever can reference "Chewie" gets to decide on a mission for these guys! You decide the team, location, and why they are there._**


	2. When You Say It Like That

_"When you said Captain Williams, I didn't think you meant that Captain Williams."_

They continued to glare at each other, her surrounded by her men, him covered by really flashy, really nice cars. What was with those anyway?

"You have a problem with that?" she snapped, arms crossed, feet apart. She was ready for a fight.

"Yeah, I kinda do," Lennox growled.

_"Hey, Williams!" Carolyn looked up from wrapping an ace wrap around her wrist to see Lennox casually walking over. None of their men were in sight. Hers were off helping load up injured into rescue vehicles. His…..who knew where they were. She'd twisted her left wrist trying to destroy a walking, yelling car sound system before it killed Jeff. Yeah…..she couldn't explain that one. The cuts had stopped bleeding from where she had punched right through the stereo and it didn't hurt as much anymore._

_"Can I help you, Lennox?" She watched him warily. Ever since she had embarrassed him yesterday by getting the girl to stop crying AND not listening to him when she free climbed up to a third story of a damaged apartment, they'd been silently warring with each other. Maybe now it would come to something. She wasn't going to not do something just cause she was a girl._

_"Yeah, you can. What'd yeah do?" Lennox frowned down at the red stained clothes by her feet._

_"Punched a stereo," she shrugged, holding up her arm. Something flitted across his face, before it went back to being stone cold, as usual._

_"Really? Lose your temper?"_

_"Yeah. A car wouldn't start so I rigged some stuff so the AC would work till help came for some teenage girls," she easily lied. He wouldn't believe that a car stereo had tried to eat one of her men._

_"And you just had to punch the stereo?" he raised an eyebrow._

_"They didn't need to listen to the crap they called music. I needed some sanity," she looked him over. "What do you really want?"_

_"You know exactly what I want."_

_"I'm not apologizing for either situation. Something had to be done. If I hurt your pride, too bad."_

_"I don't need you disobeying my orders in front of my men."_

_"Well, Captain to Captain, I don't have to listen to your orders. You are no more qualified than me for the job. We both served overseas, we've both been through the training. And since we're spilling out guts here, I don't like how your men look at me."_

_"I'm sorry you are one of the first females they see back state side, but I'm sure you're used to it by now."_

_"Not those looks, Lennox. The looks of "I feel bad for those guys cause their Captain is a girl". Those looks."_

_"You should be used to those by now, as well."_

_"And you should be used to females as officers so you don't treat me like some fragile pixie."_

_"So we're at an understanding?"_

_"That we are," Carolyn nodded. "I hate your guts, you hate mine."_

_"Stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours."_

_"Agreed. Now get out of my sight."_

_"I don't have to listen to you."_

_"I don't give a damn. I will kick your ass."_

_"Those are tough words for a girl."_

_"Those are stupid ones for a Captain."_

_"This isn't over."_

_"No, its not."_

"Why is she even here?" Will glanced at the guy on his right. The man's eyes twinkled a little. The old geezer was laughing at them.

"She's already fought against them and she's not afraid of them or you. A good counterpart for you."

"Epps is my second," Lennox gestured to the man on his left.

"In battle, yes, but here, against the politics, she will stay calm."

"Whoa, hold on a second here, boys. I am right here. Now, who have I fought and why do I have to deal with politicians?" She stepped forward, hands going to her hips, placing her men behind here, keeping them out of the fight….for now.

"Look, there's been a mistake," Lennox waved her off. "You've been assigned to the wrong squad. Brawn will take you back."

"William Lennox, it is not a mistake," the man frowned deeply. "She will stay."

"Optimus," Lennox growled, but didn't say anymore as the man, Optimus, gave him a hard look.

"What's with the names?" Brady cut in. "Brawn, Optimus. Gonna explain?"

Lennox focused on her, "You will obey my orders?"

"Maybe," she shrugged, crossing arms again and noticed his eyes fell for a moment on her bandaged wrist.

"The car stereo…." Lennox shook his head. "You lied right to my face."

"Nope, did not."

"Optimus, might as well get it over with," Lennox glanced at the man and he DISAPPEARED! Carolyn's eyes got wide as Brawn also disappeared and the vehicles around them started to transform. Her hand fell to her sidearm as she heard the click of her men's guns behind her. Lennox stepped forward and rested his hand on top of hers, "They are not dangerous."

"And the car stereo?" she glared at him.

"One of the bad guys. Its just like humans, you've got good and bad people fighting each other," Lennox looked right into her eyes. "And before you ask, we are fighting for the right side."

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," Optimus, who she took as being the semi from earlier, knelt next to them, unfazed by the guns aimed at him. "We will not hurt you."

She looked him over, then glanced behind him to look at the others before looking behind her men. Her eyes fell on her men and nodded. They lowered their guns, still tense as she focused back on Lennox, "I would like my hand back now."

"Say please," Lennox smirked. She smiled sweetly at him.

"Nope," she punched him right in the face, knocking him back away from her. She shook her hand, glaring down at him, "That was for calling me a girl back in Mission City."

"Really?" Will glared up at her, hand to his jaw. Epps started laughing.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" the yellow thing, Autobot, bounced a little.

"How was the trip?" Optimus stood, smiling, if a giant robot could smile. Brawn chuckled.

"Humans are interesting. I was wondering, Major Lennox, if rape includes that thing you called hugging?"

Carolyn face-palmed, shaking her head, "They know nothing of human mannerisms, do they?"

"No, they don't," Lennox stood, rubbing his jaw, glaring at her. "That was out of line."

"So was calling me a girl."

"You are a girl!"

"No, I am not! A girl is a female human under the age of 18 years old! I am a woman!"

"And you are how old?" the Autobot that had been the Porsche asked.

"Cliffy, first lesson in earth gals. Don't ask how old they are," Epps chuckled. "I think they will fit in just fine, boss."

"You just want to ruin my life, don't you?" Lennox crossed his arms.

"Nope, just make it a living hell. How many other woman are on the base?"

"Just you."

"Fuck."

"What is it with you and language? Trying to fit in with the guys?" Lennox chuckled.

"No, she's always been like that," Danny stepped forward, throwing an arm around her before being shoved away. "I'm Danny and those two trying to out flex Brawn are Jeff and Brady. And of course you've met Kara already."

"Kara?" Lennox glanced at her. "You're file says your first name is Carolyn."

"You file says you're first name is William," she countered.

"Fine, it's Will," he held out his hand.

"Kara and I will try not to embarrass you in front of the men, but no guarantee," she took it, shaking before they both let go, arms back to being crossed across their chests. They glared at each other before Lennox sighed.

"Last names?"

"Last names," she nodded before looking around. "Your intros."

"You met Optimus. The black guy is Epps. The black robot is Ironhide, weapons specialist. The yellow one is Bumblebee, a scout. He won't be here much longer, has another mission. And the red one is Cliffjumper, " Lennox nodded to each one.

"Debrief?"

"Debrief."


	3. The Secret to Great Hair

Carolyn sat out in the sniper range, belly flat against the ground, looking through her sights. 500 yards, slight wind out of the south….southeast. Aims for weak spots in the shoulder, neck and lower extremities. Breath in…..breath out. BANG! Hole through the gearbox, perfect. She reloaded, enjoying the peace and quiet of the sniper range. She was alone, finally, no men hovering around, no fear of stupid pranks. "Initiation" they'd called. They why hadn't Brady, Jeff and Danny been initiated? She'd kept it to herself, seeing as it was little things. Putting white hair dye in her shampoo bottle, bucket of water over her door in the morning, cold showers, bugs in her food, that sort of lame ass stuff. She proudly walked into the gym, her white hair pulled back in a braid and got into the ring with Epps. He'd stared at her, wide-eyed and she'd noticed the others looking as well. Her boys weren't looking too happy, but she just smiled, pulling on her gloves and asking what the problem was. Lennox had approached her later and asked what happened. She shrugged and said she was trying a new look, loud enough for the others to notice and realize it didn't bother her. When the bugs had showed up in her salad, she'd shrugged and dug right in, watching the men as they stared at her in horror. Bugs were nothing new to her. Her one science teacher had spent a month teaching them a billion and one recipes in case they got stranded some place and had nothing else to eat. He was also a conspiracy theorist.

Things had escalated from the bugs and when she had showed up to the infirmary as Will and Epps were helping Ratchet go over files with a nice long gash down her leg from a badly broken razor, Lennox refused to turn a blind eye. She didn't want special treatment cause she was a girl. He wasn't going to let a senior officer be killed by the carelessness of foot soldiers. He'd threatened the men a janitor ship to the Twins for the rest of their lives if it continued. There was only one prank after that, she caught Skids trying to rig her locker so that when it opened, confetti would fly out. It ended up just covering him. Lennox left Optimus to punish him, saying that the Twins would never stop making fun of him.

She'd spent that last two weeks proving to Lennox, Epps, Optimus and everyone else she was just as good and even more deadly as them. She was not above using low blows to get the upper hand in sparring matches, she quickly memorized all the weak points of the Cybertronians, setting a new record for surviving a full fifteen minutes when they played capture the human (she always ended up being the human that got chosen to be captured for her team). She would've lasted longer, but Ironhide had finally used his net after Will had yelled at him in the first ten minutes to use it. She out ran all of them, going about 40 miles a day whenever she had a time. She could bench more than half the men there, no one was a better shot in the sniper range and she had personally pinned Lennox the last time they had sparred. All of her men already had their assignments, she was still waiting on hers. She was out here to collect herself, get in the right frame of mind for whatever happened. She was a senior officer, only Optimus and Lennox were higher. She and Ironhide were pretty much equals. Now, that was a scary combo… at least for whoever went up against them. Ironhide had taken her along for a mission last week, wanting to see how she did out in the field. He'd told her Lennox and Optimus had okayed, but forgot to mention that he hadn't mentioned it to them. So, when they had returned from kicking Starscream's butt earlier that day to a furious Lennox and a not so amused Optimus, Ironhide had gotten a tongue-lashing….. from her, which had surprised everyone else. When she'd stopped for air, Ironhide had cut in and given his report. The others were impressed and wanted to hear it from her, but she just said she was just the back up and left it at that. She'd done her job and that was enough for her….for now. Ironhide had taken her out again, this time WITH Optimus and Lennox, who got to see firsthand her "Crazy Ninja-Killer Skills", as Epps had dubbed them after seeing the footage.

They knew she was a good fighter, they also knew she was good at handling superiors (Lennox does not count) and a pretty decent mechanic. When she had been asked about it by Burke as she was doing some welds on Brawn, she said her dad owned a shop. She didn't go into detail about how by junior year she was only going to school part time and working part time or that she'd been fixing cars since she could hold a wrench. She could see Lennox and Optimus seeing it might better to leave her here, helping Ratchet and dealing with the politicians for them. The men might see it as babying her cause she was a "girl" and probably expect her to fight back, but she had never once been accused of being stupid. This, right here, was helping her dad out with bills. She was making pretty good money, seeing as the government wanted her mouth to stay shut. She knew her friends didn't understand, if she even could call them friends anymore, and her dad was worried, but she would be alright.

"Yo, Williams!" she looked up to see Lennox making his way towards her. She checked her gun, making sure it was loaded and taking aim.

"Yes?"

"You have a call," Lennox stayed back, watching her as she lined up her next shot.

"Who is it?"

"A Teddy Williams," Lennox looked at the note in his hand. "He's waiting for you to call back."

"One last shot," she said softly, relaxing before pulling the trigger. Lennox grabbed a pair of binoculars from one of his many pockets and looked at her target.

"Nice grouping. Got something about reproduction today?"

"Just where I felt like shooting today," She stood, shouldering her weapon. "You demoted to errand boy now?"

"Nope, I was the one who answered the call. How'd he get that number?" Lennox led the way out of the range.

"He's resourceful," she shrugged. Hell if she knew.

"And he is?"

"My dad."

"And why is he calling?"

"Cause he can."

"Why not your mom?" Lennox must have seen something on her face. "Hey, I'm sorry. Ignore it."

"No, it's alright," she waved him off. "I lived with her till like sixth grade. Dad got me after some stuff happened."

"Oh, ok," Lennox stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants and they fell into silence for a while before Lennox cleared his throat, "So, Optimus and I have talked it over and we want you to stay back here. You'll be helping out Ratchet, dealing with Galloway, that sort of stuff. You'll be in charge of the defense here and we'll try to get you some off base missions."

"Sounds good," she nodded as they entered the main hanger. She turned away from Lennox, placing her gun in a rack and turning back, frowning. Lennox stood there, looking surprised, "What?"

"Sounds good? No arguing?"

"It's a logical choice. Seeing as we are the two senior human officers and I am the more qualified to handle Galloway, it makes sense," she shrugged, heading towards where their comms station had been set up on a catwalk. It made it easier for Optimus to speak to some the higher-ups.

"Just like that?" Lennox followed her up the stairs.

"Yup," she smiled before pulling a letter out of her pocket and handing it to Lennox before sitting in front of a computer. "AND you're no longer my superior officer."


	4. Meeting the Father

"What!" Lennox was a little loud, catching Epps', Burke's, Optimus', Ironhide's, and Ratchet's attention from where they were talking at the other end of the catwalk.

"Read it and weep, sucka!" she smiled sweetly up at him. "Now leave, I have an important call waiting."

Lennox didn't reply, just walked down the catwalk to the others, reading the letter. She ignored them, connecting the call from her dad. He sat in the shop, a car in pieces behind him and she could hear someone in the background. Her dad squinted at her, tapping the screen, "Kare, can you hear me. Stupid technology."

"Yes, hey, Dad," she shook her head, resting her arms on the table, smiling. "You finally hire someone?"

"Yeah, finally had money for it," he smiled back. "And moved into that house you wanted me to."

"About time. That mold was not good for you, Dad," she scolded gently. "Now, no dropping stuff and leaving it. That house had better be clean when I come home."

"But that's what you're for."

"No, it's not. That is not what I am for."

"Cooking?"

"No."

"Walking the dog?"

"What dog?"

"I'm thinking about getting one."

"A dog would do you good, Dad, "she glanced towards the others, noticing they were listening. Men.

"So ,how's your new assignment?" her dad tried to follow her eyes. "Anyone I should come kill?"

"No, Dad! I can take care of them myself," she laughed. "Its good, lots of sun."

"I can see that. What's with the hair? All boys?"

"Yeah, still whipping them into line."

"You report the abuse to a superior? You know, its alright to let others do stuff," he frowned.

"Dad, it was nothing serious. Just the hair and some bugs in my food."

"And I bet you ate it," he sighed. "Is it gonna be like that one time I let Erika take you with her to Africa and you came back and every meal."

"No, Dad, not like that," she quickly cut him off. "And just for the record, bugs are a good source of protein!"

"Ok, here's a deal. I will let you cook bugs here if we have spiders," he smiled evilly at her as she shivered.

"No, Dad, never. That was low and you know it," she glared at him.

"The therapist said."

"The therapist was stupid. I was not a traumatized child."

"Right, hon. So, how many other girls at this base?"

She looked around, coughing, "None."

Her dad's eyes hardened and he frowned, "For a second there I thought you said none."

"That's what I said," she smiled innocently at him. "Dad, do not get your blood pressure up. The doctor."

"Fuck the doctor," he snapped. "You always gotta go to those places, don't you?"

"It wasn't my choice this time, Dad. It just happened."

"You'd better come back single and still a virgin, you hear me, missy?"

"DAD!" She covered her face, trying to ignore the guys' laughs.

"What? Shit, some are listening, aren't they?"

"You think?"

"Oops….well, you aren't a virgin…well, I hope you are, but at your age."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Digging a hole there."

"Oh….sorry. So…ah….Em is graduating in the spring. You comin' home for that?"

"Maybe. I'll try to come home at some point this next year."

"Kare, you can't ignore them."

"I can and I will."

"Now you're being stupid."

"Am not. I am being as stubborn as Miss Snobnose."

"Names?"

"Don't tell Brady. Please."

"They still hugging?"

"…Yes."

"Hugging is good for you."

"I don't like hugging."

"Your therapist."

"Enough of the therapist!"

"If you don't bring up the doctor."

"Fine."

"Good, so, can I meet some of the new guys?"

"No, Dad, that's just weird."

"The others didn't mind."

"Because you just showed up on base the one day, Dad! They thought it was funny. And you grilled steaks."

"Just trying to help you out."

"Dad, I am doing just fine."

"I want to meet them."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Captain Carolyn Marie Williams."

"Major, now."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Good for you, not let me meet some of these guys."

"Dad, stop being a creeper."

"I'm your father, it's allowed."

"These are soldiers, Dad, not college boys."

"They can be just as bad."

"Dad."

"Now."

"No."

"I will say it."

"Don't!"

"Then let me meet them."

"You don't want to meet them."

"Yes, I do. Now."

She kneaded her forehead before glancing at the guys, "Fine. Lennox, get over here."

"Who?" her dad leaned in closer as Lennox looked over at her, frowning.

"Lennox. Get over here," she snapped. He smiled and sauntered over, dragging Epps with.

"Hon, who are you talking to?"

"Dad, this is Major Lennox and Sergeant Epps," she shifted so they could be seen behind her. "Guys, this is my dad, Theodore Williams. There, you've met, now you may leave."

"Hey, Mr. Williams," Lennox leaned forward, smiling. "Nice to meet you."

"Hello, Major. You boys got a first name?"

"Yes, Dad, they do, but they have other stuff they need to go do."

"Yeah, I'm Will and he's Robert, but we all call him Bobby or Epps."

"Nice to meet you boys. So, how's Kara been doing?"

"Dad, I am fine."

"Decent, sir. Likes to cause trouble."

"Do not!"

"Hon, I told you to be nice."

"Dad!"

"What? Someone has to embarrass you."

"I am gonna die," she slammed her head into her arms.

"A little dramatic, hon."

"I get to be, it's my right as a member of the female species of this planet."

"She always like this?"

"Always. Hey, I have to go, Benny just pulled up and you know how he is. He'll probably start asking about you again."

"My answer is still the same as last time. I will shoot his balls off."

"A little harsh, hon."

"Dad, he deserves it."

"He's only the former starting quarterback."

"Exactly, Dad, exactly."

"Alright, I think he's a good kid," he shrugged. "Be good for you to be in contact with some guys your own age. I do want grandkids some day."

"DAD!"

"Got it. Love ya, hon."

She smiled at him, "I love ya, too, Dad. Be safe."

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?"

"Probably."

"Bye, hon."

"Bye, Dad," and with that the screen went dark. She got up, ignoring the men as she headed for the stairs."

"So…your dad always like that?" Lennox caught her arm before she got too far. She glared up at him.

"You have no idea."

"He showed up at your base and made the guys steaks?" Epps frowned.

"Yes, he did."

"Can he do that for us?"

"No!" She snapped, jerking her arm free. "No he cannot."

"Who's Benny?" Lennox cut in.

"Some guy from home," she shrugged. "Some idiot stalker dude who wants a little housewife to cook and clean for him while he sits on his fat ass drinking beer and moans about he almost went pro."

"How old are you?" Epps frowned. "Cause, honestly, I feel like you should still be back in high school the way your dad is talking."

"None of your business."

"Hey, I was just wondering. No need to bite my head off."

"At least it's the head and not the balls," Lennox chuckled.

"She will be turning 22 in two months time from this Friday," Ironhide cut in.

"Really?" she threw up her hands.

"22? And a Major?" Lennox whistled. "Impressive."

"So? It happens," she shrugged, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "Are we done with twenty questions?"

"We still have thirteen questions left, " Ratchet pointed out.

"Sarcasm, Ratchet, sarcasm," she turned and headed down the stairs.

"I wanna know about this therapist," Lennox followed, while Epps stayed up top.

"There is nothing to know! Dad thought I needed it after I moved in with him, but I didn't," she snapped back at him. "End of story."

"Right," Lennox followed her out of the hanger. "And?"

"And nothing!" she rounded on him, fuming. "There is nothing more to it, Major. Get that through your head. Now leave me alone!"

And with that, she stormed off, but not before Lennox saw something that looked like tears in her eyes.


	5. What Once Was

"I don't know if we should do this," Epps peered over Will's shoulder. Ironhide's and Optimus' holoforms stood on either side of him, looking at the computer screen Will was sitting in front of.

"Look, I can't just ignore her attitude since her dad's call," Will sighed, rubbing his forehead. It had been a week since the chat with Teddy Williams and Carolyn's mood had not improved one bit. She'd been short with everyone and every time someone asked if she was alright, she'd bite their head off. Will would have just written it off as just the conversation, but then, the day after the first call, Carolyn had received another one. She had been on duty for the comm station, so she answered it. Will had been down below and heard a crash. He'd run up to see a computer screen broken and Carolyn cradling her bleeding hand. She'd brushed past him, tears in her eyes. Will knew they weren't from her hand. He'd ordered a cleanup team up to the comm station before checking the logs. The call had come from somewhere in Florida, for Carolyn. Then, yesterday, someone had called one of the company phones, a woman, asking for Carolyn. Will had answered and said she was unavailable. The woman had flown off the handle, yelling about how "the little bitch needs to get her shit together and get home and maybe I won't kick her ass too hard". Will had kinda lost his temper, yelling right back at her, saying that Major Williams was a decent person who did not need to be spoken about in such a tone and he would take her statement as a threat against a US military officer. If she dared try to approach Carolyn without her permission, Will would personally arrest her and make sure she never saw the light of day. Will didn't know who this woman was, but she'd hurt Carolyn somehow and he didn't like one of his men getting hurt…..well, woman but….she was still one of them.

He'd tried bringing up the lady to Carolyn after he'd calmed down a little, but Carolyn had snapped at him, saying it was a personal matter and to keep his nose out. Will was having none of that. So here he was, finally doing what he should've done when Carolyn's crew had been transferred over to his unit. He was opening her file. He'd read the basic paper file, but he'd never gone into the file sent to him by Galloway of everything on all of his recruits. He knew what Galloway was trying to do and he wasn't going to stoop to that level. Well, he would this one time because it was risking the health of one of his people. When someone who normally is the calmest person on base is driven to punch a computer screen, Will became concerned.

"You want to know who that woman is, don't you?" Epps sighed. "Look, I don't like her either and I've never met her, but if Carolyn says she's handling it, we should leave it be."

"She punched a computer screen after just five minutes of talking with this woman. She's spent hours in the same room as Galloway and she's never punched him. This woman is bad news," Will growled, taking a deep breath before opening the file. Pages and pages of Carolyn's life lay before them on the screen, just waiting to be read.

"Where do we start?" Epps' eyes roved over the page.

"She moved in with her dad in about the sixth grade," Will quickly started sorting through the pages.

"So you believe that this woman is in some way connected to her life before her father?" Optimus reached out and stopped Will's hand. "I would agree."

Before them on the screen was a simple court form, something given to a parent after receiving custody of their child. Will skimmed over it, then stopped. The reason given to the changing of custody was for the neglect and abuse of a minor and the current state of mind of the mother. Will continued on. More pages, showing the arrest of one Natalia Hoffman-Williams after breaking into and stealing her boss's car and crashing it through the front of her child's school. When Ms. Hoffman-Williams had been asked why she had done it, she said her daughter was not answering her phone. When asked why she was calling her daughter during a school day, Ms. Hoffman-Williams said that she needed her daughter to run some errands for her. There were also charges of abuse of a minor, drug possession, multiple DWIs and DUIs, some petty thefts and other crimes committed by the mother. There were a couple instances when the child could have been seen as an accessory, but the charges were dropped after an evaluation from a child's psychiatrist and a pediatrician, in which both stated the current mental and physical state of the child the child could not be seen as liable for their actions.

Mr. Williams gained full custody of the child in the middle of December and spent the next months before the child's sixth grade year home schooling the child and improving the child mentally and physically. There were multiple bills for therapists, doctors and vacations all over the place. After July of that year, the bills to the therapists stopped.

"Explains why she hates psych evals," Epps said softly. "So, that woman? You don't think?"

"Ms. Natalia Hoffman-Williams was released from prison Carolyn's junior year of high school. She was arrested after she tried to approach Carolyn at her father's shop. She was charged with breaking parole, attempted abuse of a minor, assault and again possession of drugs," Ironhide growled. "The assault was on Mr. Williams when he tried to gently escort Ms. Hoffman-Williams off his property. He sustained bruises on his arms, a few bites and some stitches to his head when Ms. Hoffman-Williams hit him with a wrench. When police arrived. Mr. Williams had Ms. Hoffman-Williams subdued and locked up. It seems Mr. Williams is a very protective father."

"Why didn't she live with him in the first place?" Will frowned.

"Her mom made it look like Teddy was the bad guy," Epps shrugged. "Happens all the time. Carolyn was probably too young to be able to do anything about it and she couldn't contact her father in any way probably because she feared what her mother would do to her."

"So, where is the lovely Ms. Hoffman-Williams now?" Will and Epps turned to the two holograms. Optimus thought for a moment.

"She is currently living in southern Florida with relative. Her just calling Carolyn is a violation of the restraining order against her," Optimus glanced at Will. "Would that be violating her parole?"

"That it would be," Will smiled before grabbing his phone. He had some calls to make.


	6. Shall Never be Forgotten

"She knows," Brawl hissed to Will as he and Epps walked past the burly mech. They glanced at him frowning and he shook his head, looking around, "Her dad called not too long ago, wondering why he was being called by her mom's parole officer about a violation of the restraining order. Long story short, her mom's back in jail and she's trying to figure out who tipped off the parole officer. And just between you and me, she has a good idea who it was."

"As long as she saves the torture for after the beach party today," Epps smirked at Will. Will was wearing nothing but blue swim trunks, a pair of old tennis shoes and sunglasses while Epps had on green swim trunks, flip flops and sunglasses in preparation for their day at the beach. "We kinda need the Major there to supervise."

"Oh, thanks," Will shoved Epps lightly. "You better be happy Carolyn talked Galloway into one day off or this wouldn't be happening. I don't even know how all of you got both of us talked into a day at the beach."

"Well, you wrestled Brady and since he won, he got you to agree to it and I used my sweet-talking skills to get Carolyn to agree," Epps smirked.

"Right…sweet-talking skills," Will shook his head. He was surprised it had taken over two months for Carolyn to get notified, but probably due to her new assignment things got slowed up due to military protocol and everything else. Over those two months, he had watched as Carolyn had loosened up around the men, the Autobots and himself. The men had finally accepted her, but only her. They weren't too nice to the new recruits when they showed up, but they didn't stay long, anyway. Most were transferred out to other NEST bases. They just fit here, that was all. Carolyn had stepped and proven to the guys why she was there, taking on Galloway all by herself most days, giving them a chance to disappear before he could say anything. On the few missions she'd gotten off base for, she mostly stuck with either Ratchet or Ironhide, depending on where she was needed. On one mission he'd even seen her just sitting on top of Ratchet's shoulder, bazooka on her shoulder as the medic stayed to the back of the attack. Yeah, she was one interesting gal.

"Hey, I got 'em, you don't," Epps laughed.

"Oh, really? Who's the married one here?" Will raised an eyebrow.

"You were able to get one girl, big whoop," Epps waved him off.

"And have her marry me and have a child with her," Will crossed his arms.

"Are you two really arguing about your manliness?" a laugh from behind had them both turning to see Carolyn standing by Brawl. She was wearing nothing more than a tank top and a pair of short shorts. She had her sunglasses pushed down her nose, eyeing the too with laughing eyes. Her flip flops were dangling from one hand while the other adjusted her cowboy hat on her head. A beach bag hung off her shoulder, probably packed with her sources of entertainment for the day. "That has to be the stupidest argument I have ever heard."

"At least we got it, darling," Epps sauntered over, leaning against Brawl's leg as the mech sighed from his seated position, his back against the hanger wall. He was used to Epps trying to hit on Carolyn by now. For some reason, the big black man refused to take no for an answer.

"You think you have it," Carolyn replied cheekily before smacking Epps with her flip flops. "Get going, this is your party. Go play host."

"Hey!" Epps dodged away from her. "Why me? You two are the superior officers."

"Will is running the grill and I will be using my day off to relax and be a girl. Therefore I will be on the beach getting a tan while catching up on my Nicholas Sparks books," Carolyn smiled sweetly. "Deal with it, Sergeant."

"That's not fair!" Epps threw up his hands before glancing at Brawl. "Let's go, bud."

"Make sure you two grab the bear coolers on your way down. Fig forgot to load them in Cliffjumper before they headed out," Carolyn moved towards Will as Brawl transformed into his alt mode. "And Ratchet said he'd cover lifeguarding duty, so you just have to make sure the coolers stay stalked up."

"Oh, I can do that!" Epps fist pumped the air before climbing into Brawl and racing off.

"Have you seen Ironhide?" Carolyn came to stand by Will, dropping her bag from her shoulder.

"No, I'm waiting him to pick me up. Why?" Will adjusted the towel he had thrown over his shoulder.

"I'm waiting for him as well. He said he could give me a ride down to the beach," Carolyn shrugged, glancing at Will before pushing her sunglasses up her nose. Her hair was still as white as snow and today she had it pulled back in two braids. With her extremely well tanned, well muscled body, she was looking pretty good. Will looked away, scolding himself. He was married, after all. Plus, Epps was after her. Not that anything was going to happen there, but….Ironhide had better show up soon.

"Are you really going to read Nicholas Sparks all day?" Will glanced back at her. She laughed and crouched by her bag, pulling out a book.

"Nope, I have the newest Harry Potter book to read. Dad finally sent the copy I ordered forever ago," she shoved the book back in her bag and stood, throwing the bag over her shoulder. "But I do have Nicholas Sparks with me just in case one of the guys wants to read something."

"You think one of these guys wants to read Nicholas Sparks?" Will laughed.

"You never know," she shrugged as Ironhide pulled around the side of the hanger in his alt mode. "I hear its possible for men to have soft sides."

"Oh, really? From who?" Will followed her towards the truck.

"Just rumors," she shrugged, climbing in on the driver's side. "I get to pretend to drive today."

"That's not even fair," Will climbed into the passenger side as Ironhide sighed over the radio.

"And why not?" she smirked at him as Ironhide slowly pulled forward. Well, slower than everyone else that morning.

"Cause I'm the guy here," Will mock pouted.

"And that means what?" Carolyn laughed, gently patting him on the arm. "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" Will glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She focused straight ahead, hands resting on the wheel but not turning it.

"You know what," she glanced at him before looked back forward. "It was very nice of you."

"Very nice of me?"

"It's a compliment."

"Yes, I know that. It's just a strange compliment," Will shrugged.

"Well, that's all you're gonna get from me, so be happy," Carolyn added just a slight edge to her voice.

"She did a lot of bad stuff to you, didn't she?" Will asked after a few minutes of silence. Carolyn tensed, her mouth becoming a thin line.

"Yes," it was soft and filled with something Will had never heard or seen from Carolyn. She sounded lost, hopeless. Defeated.

"If you ever…if you ever need to talk to anyone about it. I'm not as good as a therapist, but I'll listen," Will focused on the road in front of them.

"Thanks," Carolyn glanced at him before also focusing on the road.

"No problem."

They sat in silence the rest of the way to the beach. As Ironhide pulled up onto the sand near where the men had started a fire and the grill and were setting up a volleyball net, Carolyn turned to Will, "She's the reason…the reason I can't stand spiders."

Will turned to her, slightly confused but nodded. Carolyn took a deep breath and continued, not looking at Will, "She used to lock me up in her basement when I didn't do something right. Didn't give her the right amount of pills, didn't get the right bottle, didn't get her out of jail soon enough, didn't do this, didn't do that. I couldn't do anything right, so she'd punish me. Most times it was just locking me up in the basement, sometimes she'd hit me. There was no windows in the basement and the only source of light was from the crack under the door. This was down in Florida, so everything is just weird down there. She had these spiders down there, should have called the exterminator to get rid of them, but she never did. Said they were going to be my only friends. I hated them. I'd see them in the darkness, well not them, just their eyes. I got bit a couple times. Sometimes they got infected, but she wouldn't take me in till I was almost dead. And then as soon as I was let go, I got to spend a few hours in the basement for wasting her drug money. Sometimes I…I have nightmares about them, feel the spiders crawling on me, like they did the few times she was mad enough to tie me up in the chair down there. I couldn't move, couldn't cry out or I would get in more trouble, so I just had to wait till she or her boyfriend came down and got me. I liked her boyfriend, he always let me out when he came home and made sure I was eating right. He tried telling the police a few times, but they never did anything. Couldn't, really, cause Mom was too smart to get caught at anything most of the time and somehow Dad never found out about all of it….not till the last time."

"Was that why…why your dad sent you to the therapist?" Will asked softly, watching her carefully. None of the men had noticed them yet, but a few of the mechs had.

"Yeah….the first night I actually got to stay with him, right after the trial, I had a bad nightmare. I broke the window and cut up my hand real bad. Dad rushed me to the doctor's and called the police, wanting to know exactly all that she had done to me. He didn't get mad or anything, he was just worried, real worried," she started smiling a little. "When he took me back to the hotel room after the doctor let me go, he sat on the couch next to me and hugged me and said that she would never hurt me again. I told him everything, then, cause it was the first time I could ever remember being hugged and I actually felt safe. The next morning he got the restraining order and had her house leveled to the ground. When we got back to Wisconsin, he took me to a couple therapists, but they really didn't help. Not much, anyway, but then one of Dad's old school buddies stopped by and turned out he was sort of a therapist. Not the kind I needed, but a physical therapist, but he'd dealt with injured athletes before, so he offered to help, for free, with getting me back into shape. Between him, his wife, my dad and my next door neighbor, who had like 10 children and who knows how many grandchildren, I got better. Fewer nightmares. The last time I had a really bad one was when my mom showed up back in my junior year."

"But your dad protected you."

"Yeah, he did," Carolyn gave him a funny look. "Did I forget to mention my dad used to be the town's quarterback. He could've gone on to the pros, but he chose to get a degree in auto mechanics and marry my mom. He told me once he never regretted anything he's done in his life but let my mom have custody of me when they divorced. But, anyway, when she showed up, my dad tried to be nice about it, not get anyone's attention cause he shop is on main street. The end of main street, of course, but still. It's a small town. She wasn't going to have any of it. I could smell the alcohol on her from where my dad had ordered me when she showed up, between the desk and his toolbox. I don't know how long she'd been out, but she was wasted and pissed. All she wanted was me, cause she always had taken her anger out on me. Dad didn't let her. After she hit him with the wrench, he football tackled her right in the middle of the street and tied her up with some of his chains from the shop and waited for the police to come and get her. He had to spend the night at the hospital cause of the wrench hit. He didn't want to stay cause he was worried about me, but they let me stay the night with him so he could keep an eye on me. That was the last time I had a nightmare about her."

"You still have nightmares?" Will tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Don't we all. Sometimes, if the mission was bad, but not usually," Carolyn shrugged, glancing over Will's shoulder. "We should get going."

"Yeah, we should," Will nodded, turning and climbing out of Ironhide. Carolyn hopped out of her side and Ironhide transformed so he was kneeling between them. He leaned down towards Carolyn.

"You are very strong, Kara, stronger than many men I have met, here on Earth and out in the universe. I am honored to fight by your side," Ironhide gently touched her cheek with one of his fingers before turning to Will. "Both of you are very special. Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise."

With that, Ironhide stood and headed over to where the other mechs were waiting to play their version of paintball. Carolyn glanced at Will, gave him a small smiled, and headed off towards the men. Will fell into step with her, glancing over the men, "You could always join in on the volleyball tournament."

"Maybe I will," she glanced at him before nodding. Will smiled back at her before focusing on the men as she headed off to find a good reading spot. He ignored the look he was getting from Epps as he grabbed a beer.

"Have a good chat?" Epps moved so he was blocking Will's way.

"Very good, actually," Will raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just making sure you know what you're doing," Epps said pointedly.

"Its not like that, Bobby," Will growled.

"Good, cause she's on my team," Epps broke out into a smile. Oh, he knew better, he could see what was going on, but he wasn't going to push anything.

"Hey, no, I invited her to the volleyball game," Will growled before something hit him in the side of the head. Both of them turned to see Carolyn leaning against a surf board near Burke, Fig, Brady, and Jeff, her tank top off, revealing a bikini top. She smiled innocently at them as Epps picked up the volleyball. "They want to start playing."

"Gonna join in?" Epps grabbed the beer from Will's hand before sauntering over.

"I decided that I will be the ref until Cliffjumper has the hang of things, then I'm going surfing," she shrugged.

"Woah, the Frozen Tundra girl can surf?" Fig laughed, taking the ball from Epps.

"Yep," she smiled evilly before taking the beer from Epps and heading over to Cliffjumper. Epps glanced at Will, who just laughed. You just never knew what was going to happen with Miss Carolyn Marie Williams was involved.


	7. That Thang You Do

_**Carolyn,**_

_**Hope life is going well for you. It's been a while since I've heard anything and the others are starting to really hound on me. I know you really don't want to talk to us, but the occasional hello would be alright. Let us know how you're doing, where you've recently been blown up, that sort of stuff.**_

_**I can at least keep up one side of this conversation. I know I saw you sneaking around my graduation. Did you dye your hair? I swear it was you, but your hair was white and it looked like you've been to the beach...a lot. So you probably already know my big news, but I graduated top of my class. Now you have to address me as Doctor Tokamura. HA! Of course, you're a Major so I don't know who has the higher ranking. Probably you.**_

_**What you don't know is that I've accepted a job out in Honolulu. Its part of a disaster relief group. I'll be working part time at Queens in the city and then part time out at HQ, ready for anything. If I'm good enough, in a few years I'll be given my own emergency vehicle. I'm sooooo excited!**_

_**Amanda has finally gotten her own business and it sure is flourishing! She just called to let me know she is going to be the main photographer at the Miami Fashion Show. Can you believe it?**_

_**Erika is about to release another book and her blog is huge. I bet you have to read it for whatever you do, just because.**_

_**Whatever you're up to, I hope you're having fun. Be safe, Kara,**_

_**Em**_

_She read the email again, smiling a little this time. Emily had made it her duty to send her emails once every two weeks for the past six months, just letting her know what the others were doing. Carolyn knew she was trying to get them all connected again, but that was a long time from happening. It wasn't that she didn't want it to happen. It was just that at the moment she was in the middle of a giant training exercise/new squad transfer. And by giant she meant giant alien robots that transformed into cars and other vehicles. All she wanted to do was tell Em about the rescue hummer, Ratchet, who she found absolutely hilarious or her personal favorite, Ironhide. There was something about big guns that just got her excited. Of course, there was her new commanding officer, Colonel Will Lennox. He was different and the captain she had rubbed the wrong way in Mission City. At least she had Brady, Jeff and Daniel with her. They definitely were helping getting the others to accept a girl. She had come in handy on a couple missions. The couple missions she had been allowed off base for. Most of the time she was left behind, as a mechanic or up in the command center._

_Maybe...maybe she would reply to the next one._

"Come on, Williams, get out here," Will banged on the door leading to the women's locker room. Well, Woman's locker room, since there was only one woman on base at the moment.

"I don't think I can do this," Carolyn called out from behind the door. "I'm not feeling good, might be getting sick. I think someone else will have to go."

"You are not sick, Kara," Ratchet chuckled from where he sat by the other Autobots, which had grown to include the Arcee sisters, Sideswipe and a few others. "If anything, you are uncomfortable."

"Am not!"

"If you aren't, come out here," Will smirked. He, Epps, Brady and some of the other men were waiting with their Autobot counterparts to head out and scout out any Decepticon-human interactions. Intel hinted at something going down in China, so they had sent out a recon team to get a feel for everything. On top of it, they had word that there might be some Con's in South America, so they were sending Kara out with a few of them to see what was going on. What they decided they needed was someone to go in undercover and in someone they meant a woman to get some of the locals' attention. Which meant a certain someone had to get themselves dressed to go undercover, which had been easier said than done. After a lot of work and searching (with a lot of help from the Arcee sisters) they had finally found an outfit for Carolyn. Now, they were just waiting on her to come out from changing into it so they could leave.

"I never even got to ok this!" Carolyn snapped. Ok, that was true, the men had agreed to it, but she had to seduce the men, not scare them away, which could happen still.

"Look, we gotta go, so just get out here," Will sighed. "Please?"

Silence….."Fine." The door opened and she poked her head out. Her hair was loose except for a few random little braids here and there. For once she was wearing makeup, but not a lot. Just enough to be noticed but too much to qualify for a clown reference. She shot him a glare before coming the rest of the way out, wrapped in a robe, "I am out. Happy?"

"Don't we get to see what you're wearing?" Burke chuckled from where he was leaning against the wall nearby by the rest of the men.

"No, you do not. You can all see it from a distance from TV screens," she snapped before heading towards her ride for the day, Ironhide. Will held up a hand and she stopped, watching as his hand pointed down at her feet.

"Shoes?" He smirked.

"No, those can also wait," she held them up in her hand, a pair of very high, strappy heels.

"No, that was not the deal, missy. I beat you, so you have to show, right here, right now," Epps laughed. He'd pinned her earlier in the week during a sparring match and he'd decided he wanted to get a good look at her undercover outfit.

"I feel like this is harassment," she growled.

"Hey, a deal is a deal. Let's go, princess," Will smiled.

"Fine, fine, but just wait. The next person I pin is wearing whatever I choose," she snapped before going back into the locker room.

"Isn't this kinda mean?" Ironhide frowned.

"No, 'Hide, this is us making sure Kara is a girl underneath all the camo," Will glanced at the giant mech. "At least, that's why I'm pushing for it. The others may not have as clean of motives."

"Our motives are very clean," Epps looked hurt, or at least tried to until a smile broke across his face. "Our minds may not be."

"That just sounds so wrong," Carolyn growled from behind Will and he got a look of stunned faces before he turned to see what was going on. There, standing in the doorway of the Women's locker room was not Major Carolyn Williams. No, this was a well-tanned, white-haired, leggy, slim, muscular, overall good-looking, eye candy, magazine model. She was wearing, per the warm weather in South America, a deep red tank top with thin straps, cut very low on her breasts and that had been cut off about two inches above her belly button as well as a very, very, very short pair of cutoff jean shorts. Her strappy, black heels now adorned her feet, adding a good four inches to her height. She had a gold band around her upper left arm and gold bracelets around her right wrist. Of course, that's about where all the looking stopped, because someone was definitely becoming uncomfortable with all the looking. Carolyn wrapped her arms around her chest and turned to go back into the locker room, "That's it, not happening."

"Hey, hey, "Will quickly stepped forward and grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Ignore them, you can do this."

"This, right here, is not what I do," she glanced up at him before focusing back on the floor. What he saw in her eyes before she looked away confused him. She looked unsure of herself and slightly ashamed.

"I think, " he spoke softly so she could only here. "That this, right here, looks pretty good on you."

"Are you flirting with me?" she smiled slightly, looking up at him.

"Naw, just a pep talk. You see, that coming from me is a major compliment. Coming from them would be flirting. So, Major, what are you gonna do now?"

"I can't drive in heels, so we, after this, are having a major talk if this is going to be my thang," she gently pulled her arm free and headed for Ironhide, a little bit more swing to her hips than usual.

"Your thang?" Will laughed, following her, shoving Epps against the wall as they went.

"My thang," she glanced back and stumbled. Luckily, Ironhide seemed to have been prepared and caught her.

"I think your thang needs some work," Ironhide chuckled.

"I'm alright," She pushed herself back up, straightening her shorts.

"Have you ever worn heels before?" Brady frowned.

"Ah…..does prom count?"


	8. Vacationing Alone is Dangerous

"I'm on vacation, William," Carolyn spoke cheerily as she answered her cell, taking the keys from the man at the desk before heading out of the airport towards the rental cars.

"I know that, Kara, but we want to know where," Will growled.

"No where near any Decepticons. Wait? Are you trancing this call?" Carolyn laughed. "You'll know soon enough, then."

"I would feel better if you had one of us or the Autobots with."

"William, this a vacation, which means time by myself away from all of you," Carolyn started clicking the unlock button on the keys in her hand, looking over the cars before her. The General had taken care of all of this for her, leaving most of it open for whatever she wanted, but picking out her car and hotel for her. She was standing in the middle of a private lot in Venice, Italy. She was wearing heels, something she had found she really liked, much to the horror of the men, a nice little open-backed, white sundress and a brown leather jacket. Her bags had already been loaded in the car, all she needed to do was find it and head out of the city and into the hills, where a nice little villa was waiting for her to spend two weeks tanning, getting pampered and a huge paintball course. Ok, so she needed to work on being a girl a little bit.

"You wouldn't have to see us," Will sounded like he was almost pleading.

"But I would know you are there. I wouldn't feel comfortable going to any nude beaches with you guys around," she teased.

"Nude WHAT?" laughter could be heard in the background.

"I am not going to any nude beaches, guys, so get that image out of your head! Now OHHHH!" she stopped midsentence and squealed like a little girl as a nearby car honked back at her constant clicking.

"What? What's going on?" Will sounded worried.

"He's beautiful," Carolyn whispered, moving so she could touch the car. "Such sleek curves, that well defined muscle. Oh my god, I'm in love!"

"Whoa! Whoa, control yourself there, missy!" Epps came over the phone now. "What are you doing?"

"Looking...and touching. Hello handsome," she climbed into the car and cautiously started the engine. It roared to life before falling into a soft purr, waiting for her to make the next move.

"What? Is that...why does that sound like a really nice Italian sports car?"

"Not just any Italtian sports car. A Ferrari 458 Italia," she ran her free hand over the steering wheel. "And he's one sexy beast."

"Were you...were you just talking about a car?" Epps sounded like he was laughing now.

"Yes, I was. Who do you...ohhhhhh...gotcha," she giggled a little, then winced. "I giggled..."

"That you did and it was kinda scary," Will got the phone back from Epps. "Its a car, Kara, a car!"

"I'm sorry I look at cars like other girls look at men. Speaking of which, how many do you think I can catch with this baby?"

"Oh, sweet Primus. Ironhide and I are on our way. Don't do anything stupid."

"HEY, no! My vacation is off limits!"

"Look, its not that I don't trust, its just that whenever you go places, alone, bad things happen," Will was trying to be reasonable now. Cute.

"Name one time."

"Singapore."

"That does not count!" she hissed, putting the phone on speaker before pulling out of the lot. "You guys sent me there!"

"But you didn't have to go into the bathhouse!"

"There were innocent people in there!"

"And you went in, alone, and came back out at gun point!"

"How was I suppose to know the bathhouse was run by pirates?" she tried to counter.

"Wait for intel! Like I told you! And what about London? Or Paris?"

"Paris was lovely," she growled, racing out of the city and into the countryside.

"What part? The view from the top of the tower or the bottom of a whore house?"

"Philipe was nice!"

"Not part of the plan!"

"I was only gone a few hours."

"Twelve and we had to rescue you," Will pointed out.

"I was doing just fine."

"Right."

"Meany."

"Ironhide and I will be there in four hours. Don't do anything stupid?"

"What does that entail?" she looked in her review mirror, frowning. A Mercedes Benz was speeding up the road towards her.

"Don't get hurt."

"So can I do some racing?"

"What?" Will sounded really worried now.

"See you in four hours!" she hung up before tapping her brakes a little, allowing the Mercedes to get along side her. The driver was wearing sunglasses and had nice dark hair. He smiled over at her sweetly, revving his engine. She blew him a kiss before slamming her foot on the accelerator and taking off. The Mercedes raced right after her, staying on her tail. She headed farther into the hills, knowing she could find her way back to the villa anytime she wanted. Or wait for Will and Ironhide to crash her party. What part of vacation didn't they understand. Yes, things had been pretty quiet since Egypt, but what could you expect when they had kinda crushed quite a few of the Decepticons.

The Mercedes swerved and came up along side her, he man still smiling before he swerved right into the side of the Ferrari. Kara tried to keep control, but the car spun. When it finally stopped, she found herself facing the edge of a cliff. She took a deep breath, ok so maybe Will was right. Trouble did seem to find her. She grabbed the keys and tried to start the engine...nothing.

"Slag," she hissed, throwing open her door and getting out, grabbing her phone as she went. The Mercedes was sitting farther up the road, facing her. She threw it a finger before dialing Will.

"Yes?" Will sounded a little bit pissy.

"Ummm...my ride is dead."

"What did you do?"

"I did nothing. Another car rammed me," she huffed, slipping off her heels and throwing them into the car before heading for the front of the Ferrari. "Bet all he wants is another sort of ride."

"Are you serious? See, this is why you vacationing alone is bad!" she imagined Will throwing his hands up while saying it.

"Yes, yes, I know. Blah, blah, blah, can you hurry up and get here? The Mercedes is still creeping on me."

"He's still watching you?"

"I have a gun under my skirt. I can handle myself. I just need a get away ride and I don't want to leave the Ferrari," she quickly popped the hood and threw it open, freezing. "Holy mother of pearls..."

"What? I can't see what you're seeing!"

"I know that. Ummmm...so, you were right?"

"What?"

She backed away from the Ferrari, reaching for her gun, "Trouble finds me."

From behind her she heard something transforming and she turned to see the Mercedes turn into a very familiar Decepticon.

"Kara? Kara! Answer me!" Will was yelling in her ear. "What's happening?"

"The Mercedes...is Soundwave."


	9. Saved by the Sexy Car

_"The Mercedes...is Soundwave."_

"WHAT?" Will probably was panicing now. Not what she needed.

"Will, we have a bigger problem here, ok? The engine of my Ferrari has Cybertronian tech in it!" she aimed her pistol at Soundwave as he sauntered slowly towards her. "I don't think he's alone!"

"Well, well...well. The little squishy female is all alone. Did your friends rig that thing so they could trace you because it made it really easy for me," Soundwave cackled. "And you're right, I'm not alone. I have some friends on the way."

"Will, please tell me you have some friends nearby," she continued to back away, her pistol hand steady as she lined up a shot that would maybe give her some time to get...somewhere.

"No...don't...Kara?...there...hold..."static filled her ears as Soundwave smiled triumphantly.

"Did your phone die?" he smiled, his chest popping open briefly to let Ravage out before it closed, the giant robot cat slowly pacing towards her. She slipped her phone into her bra (out of habit) and used both hands to aim at the cat.

"Can we be civilized here?" she hissed as the back of her legs pumped into the Ferrari. "How about we start with why do you want me?"

"I don't want you, I want to destroy you," Soundwave chuckled. "With you dead, NEST will fall apart."

Carolyn's stomach dropped. So, she was going to be killed, more than likely tortured first, just to hurt the boys. Oh, that was not nice at all, "I am really, really sick of you Decepticreeps. You need to find some new hobbies!"

"Oh, but I have. Ravage, attack!" Soundwave snapped and Ravage lunged forward. She fired her pistol three times before she felt the cat's front claws did into her shoulders and pin her to the hood of the Ferrari. The cat brought it's face to hers, hissing as its tail flicked impatiently behind it. She fired another shot into Ravage's neck, releasing a howl of pain from the cat before it threw her out into the road. She quickly rolled over, finger ready to pull the trigger as the cat lunged at her again. Mere feet from her, it was hit in midair with a blast, sending it flying back towards Soundwave. She looked to see a giant red Cybertronian standing where the Ferrari had been, what looked like a rifle in his hands. He was tense, his stance defensive as he glared at Soundwave.

"I do not appreciate you hurting an innocent femme," the Cybertronian hissed, his voice accented heavily with Italian. "I suggest you leave before I am forced to more violent means of reasoning."

"Mirage," Soundwave hissed. "I thought you had died all those years ago back on Cybertron."

"Sorry to disappoint," Mirage snapped. "But someone has to remove the filth like you."

Soundwave roared and lunged forward, but the Cybertronian, Mirage, was ready. The rifle disappeared as he hands transformed into blades, catching Soundwave's arms easily before he kicked out, catching Soundwave's knee and knocking him down. Mirage used the momentum to flip Soundwave over the cliff. He turned, just in time to knock the heavily damaged Ravage aside. The cat landed near Carolyn and she quickly fired the rest of her clip into the cat's head before focusing back on the new Cybertronian. She quickly reloaded and aimed the gun at the giant red robot, stopping him from moving any closer, "I don't know who you are or which side you're on."

"I could say the same thing about you," Mirage's hands transformed back into their normal state as he raised them in a surrender position. "I mean you no harm. We both are not friends of Soundwave's."

"That still doesn't mean anything."

"No, but I am sure you will feel better once the cat is gone, no?" Mirage took a small step forward, gesturing to the currently offlined kitty. Carolyn thought about it for a moment before nodding, slowly lowering her gun. Mirage nodded, slowly moving forward to pick up the cat and easily throw it over the cliff. He turned back to her, kneeling cautiously beside her as she carefully sat up. She thought she caught concern in his stiffly guarded gaze. "You are hurt."

She looked down at her torn up shoulders before nodding, "A little."

"You have fought them before, no?" Mirage inclined his head towards the cliff. "The Decepticons?"

"Yes, I have," she nodded, watching him carefully. "I still don't know who you are."

"I believe you deserve to know that much," Mirage said thoughtfully. "I did save your life, after all."

"Look, Mr. Ego, I was doing just fine!"

"I believe Ravage would agree, no?" Mirage tensed, looking up the road before focusing back on her. "Soundwave's friends are coming. I will tell you once we are safely away."

"His friends?" she quickly stood, turning down the road as Mirage transformed back into the Ferrari.

"I do not know who for sure. Some of my systems are damaged from crashing into your planet," it sounded like the mech was laughing as the driver's side door popped open. "I have someplace safe you can go till your friends arrive."

"Safe as in?" she looked cautiously at the car before sighing and getting in. The door slammed shut, the seat belt attached itself firmly around her and the car leapt forward, far faster than she had been going earlier.

"As in I will be able to help you with your wounds and hide both of us from the Decepticons and your friends until you are ready," the radio answered.

"So, can you tell me who you are?" she leaned against the seat, looking down at her shoulders, the pain starting to set in.

"There is a towel in the glove compartment, Major Williams," yup, he was definitely laughing now. She grudgingly took the offered towel, not even bothering to ask how he knew that. She already knew. "I am Mirage, as I am sure you caught from Soundwave. I was with Prowl's group on Cybertron when the others left. I got a little off course when we entered Earth's atmosphere and was seperated from them. As you can see, I adjusted well."

"Wait, you were with Prowl?" she gently dabbed the towel at her wounds, wincing through her surprise. Prowl and his group had showed up about a month ago, adding even more stress to her job. Hence her need for a vacation, which was deserved after spending two weeks in Washington arguing with Galloway every spare minute in the day. Which meant she had come back to base with a few less pounds and sleep deprived. Will had caught it early and gotten her straight to her room, not allowing anyone, including Ratchet, to bother her till she stumbled out of her room 15 hours later, looking for food.

"Yes. You know him?" there was no more laughter in Mirage's voice now.

"Yes, I work with him. I think he's mentioned you," she thought for a moment before nodding. "You're the spy, right?"

"Yes, I am. Are the others safe?" just a hint of concern there. So, Mirage wasn't as cold hearted as Sideswipe, the Twins and Cliffjumper made him out to be.

"Yes, they are fine. Ratchet got them all patched up pretty quickly," she nodded again. "I work with a group called NEST and we work side by side with the Autobots."

"So it seems we are on the same side," she was pretty sure if he could Mirage would be smirking smuggly at her.

"Yes, it does. So, how far to your base?"

"Not far. When we get there, it should be safe for you to call your friends and let them know the situation. Until then, I believe it would be best if you let your body rest. I sense that your current state of awareness will not last long."

He sounded like a mix between Ironhide and Ratchet. She allowed herself to smile slightly. She was going to like this guy.


	10. Gentlemen of Not So Gentle Lands

A gentle shake of the seat beneath her woke Carolyn from the light doze she had fallen into as Mirage raced through the Italian countryside. She slowly opened her eyes, looking around as the car pulled into a dark cavern, lights turning on the farther they went, "Where are we?"

"Under my villa," Mirage answered from beside her and she turned to see his holoform sitting in the passenger seat, smirking at her. "I told you it was someplace safe."

"You have a villa?" she frowned as the car pulled to a stop.

"Yes, as I said. I adjusted well," her door opened as the seatbelt released itself. Mirage flickered from the seat to appear standing by her door. "Shall we go upstairs?"

"How did you get a villa?" she swung her feet out of the car and stood, immediatly becoming dizzy. Strong hands caught her under the shoulders, stopping her from falling.

"My current owner is away on business. By the time he gets back, I am sure another suitable ride will be waiting in my place," Mirage looked down at her, shaking his head. Carolyn took the time to look him over. His features mirrored those of his Cybertronian form, regal, strong. He was of a dark complextion, blending in with the locals. His brown hair was a little long, but not too long. His eyes, a nice grey color, were calm, alert. He was of medium build, well muscled and tall. He was wearing jeans with a red sports coat and white t-shirt underneath. He was wearing nice brown shoes, looking the part of a wealthy yet honest young man. Interesting.

"Do you always go about like this?" she gently stood on her own, watching him cautiously.

"Only when I want to. I felt it would be best to appear like this so I may help you till the others arrived. Shall we go upstairs?" Mirage asked again, shifting a little so she was leaning on one of his arms as the car transformed behind them. "I will move your bags up stairs as well so you may change into something fresh."

"That sounds good," she nodded, allowing him to lead. So far, she felt as if Mirage had once been a noble of some sort. He reminded her of the young gentlemen should used to read about, actually a lot like Doctor John Watson. Courteous, gentle, nice but still able to hand his own. He did not see himself above her but almost as an equal. "Tell me more about yourself."

"What?" He frowned down at her as he led her up into what looked like a sitting room with one wall entirely of windows.

"Tell me more about yourself. How did you end up with the Autobots? What did you do before the war?" she glanced up at him. He gently pushed her down onto a couch before disappearing and she sighed. Ok, so maybe a little defensive.

"I was a noble of Cybertron," his voice flitted to her as he re-entered the room from another door, carrying a med kit. "The nobles didn't rule, that was the Prime, but we held a lot of sway over what the basic rules of Cybertron were."

He opened the kit and set it on the couch next to her before kneeling in front of her, "Will you take off your jacket so we can get a better look at your shoulders?"

She nodded, carefully pealing the leather away from the drying blood. Mirage reached up and helped a little. Together they got the jacket thrown aside on the floor. He grabbed some guaze and started to clean up around the wounds, "I joined the Autobots after the Towers, where I lived, was destroyed by a mech I had considered a very good friend. I was naive at the time, clueless. Well, not really, I just didn't want to listen to what everyone else was saying."

"I'm sorry," she said softly watching him work carefully, tenderly. "Why were you at the airport?"

"I've been attempting to keep track of Cybertronian activities on the planet, but as I said some of my systems were damaged in the landing. I'd noticed NEST, as you calls yourselves, were always around when there was an attack so I started trying to get in contact. I picked up on your trip yesterday and scrambled some stuff around so we would meet. I was making sure I could trust you."

"The others mentioned you had some trust issues," Carolyn nodded as he started wrapping her shoulders. "Its not that uncommon."

"Oh, really?" he glanced up at her, frowning.

"I'm a girl, a femme as you call us, in an all male squad. There weren't any other girls until the Arcee sisters showed up. I've been leading all male squads since I became an officer. I learned real fast that the only person I could trust was myself most times cause most men are so full of themselves they don't want to listen to me. And there was everything that happened with my mom, "she looked away, feeling like she was saying too much.

"She hurt you," Mirage nodded. "She treated you like scum, even though you were her own blood."

"Did it...did it happen to you?" she glanced back at him.

"No, my mother could never hit me," a small smiled graced his features. "No, but my best friend had it happen to him. I know how it feels, in a way. There, all done. "

She looked down at her shoulders, smiling a little, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he nodded to the door leading out to a balcony. "Your bags are out there. I'm going to go check on some stuff, so you can change and call your team."

"You're a good guy, Mirage," she called after him as he started to disappear. He hesitated slightly before nodding and then he was gone. She sighed and headed through the open doors to the balcony, pulling her cellphone out of her bra as she opened her luggage, which had been set right by the doors. She pulled out a new dress, jacket and pair of heels before heading back inside, checking the phone. She winced, looking over the long list of missed calls and texts. Yeah, Will was gonna be pissed. He could wait till after she changed.


	11. Worries of the Past, Present and Future

Once she was changed, Carolyn grabbed her phone of a side table and headed out onto the balcony. She was now wearing a nice sea blue dress and a white jacket with matching heels. Her shoulders were hurting a little, but she had found some pain relievers in her purse. She quickly dialed Will's cell, wondering who all would be with him right now.

"Hello?" he sounded breathless and there was complete silence behind him. "Kara?"

"No, this is Marilyn Monroe calling to let you know you have won a free weekend with me and twelve of my most beautiful friends. Who do you think it is, Sherlock?" she sat down in a chair, looking out over the amazing view of a wooded area and the ocean beyond.

"Kara," Will took a shuddering breath. "Please...be serious."

"I am fine, Will. I got some help," she glanced back into the house, wondering if Mirage was listening.

"Some help? What do you mean?" Will was really struggling to stay calm.

"Will, breath slowly. By now you have someone with a trace on my cell and it will tell you that I am currently sitting in a villa of a wealthy Italian. I am safe."

"How?"

"Now, that is a really interesting story," she started to smile as Mirage, in his mech mode, swung up onto the balcony and sat not to far away, watching her silently.

"Kara, we're picking up a Cybertronian near you, but we can't get a solid id on him," Will growled.

"As I said before, some of my systems are damaged," Mirage spoke softly.

"But not all of them," she chuckled. "Prowl, you will be happy to hear that your spy is pretty much undamaged. Some dents and maybe his ego is damaged, but he comes in handy in a pinch."

"Wait...Mirage is there?" Prowl's voice came over the phone.

"Yes, I am," Mirage's soft, accented voice came over the phone and she glanced at him. He shrugged, "I am a spy. I have the ability to hack things."

"Its good to hear your voice, Mirage," Prowl chuckled. "What happened?"

"My computers were still damaged from when we left Cybertron."

"You didn't say anything."

"I normally don't."

"Gentlemen, calm down," Kara cut in. "Will, how far out are you?"

"Look up and to the south," Will chuckled. She did as told and smiled as she saw the plane taking shape on the horizon.

"Mirage, is there someplace nearby they can land?" she turned to the mech.

"The field behind the house. We will wait here," Mirage answered over the phone. "It is best that the Captain not move too much."

"And why is that?" Will cut back in.

"Its nothing, Will, just broke a nail or two," she shot a glare at Mirage.

"Ravage did not agree with her choice of outfit for the day."

"Barely a scratch!"

"You stained my leather."

"I bet it was Italian."

"I am partial to it."

"You have issues."

"So do you."

"That's real mature."

"You are the one who is lying about your injures."

"I am not lying! It doesn't even hurt."

"Because you took some pain relievers before you called your friends."

"That doesn't make a difference."

"I believe it does."

"Are you two done?" Will cut in, reminding Mirage and Carolyn that they were technically not alone.

"Why would we want to be?" she snapped back as the plane sped overhead.

"Because its kinda scary how similar you two sound."

"We do not!"

"We're landing. Don't move!"

"Try and stop me!"

"Do you really have to argue with me?"

"See you in a bit, William," Carolyn sighed before cutting the call. There goes her vacation.

"You are disappointed," Mirage watched her through half closed optics.

"Slightly, yes," she stood and moved to the railing, taking off her jacket and fingering the bandages on her shoulders. "All I wanted was a little peace. Just some me time, nothing more."

"I am sorry it was ruined," Mirage said softly.

"There is nothing you can do to fix it," she sighed, setting her jacket on the railing before leaning against it, just looking off into space. To be honest, there was nothing she could do about it and this trip here had proven it. Even if she tried to leave the service, the Decepticons would come after her. Once they figured out who she was, they would go after her family and friends. Even the girls...what had she gotten herself into?

"There is nothing you can do either," she heard Mirage shift slightly behind her but didn't turn.

"And that's what I think hurts the most," she fingered her dog tags absently.

"You have been fighting a long time, no?"

"Correct."

"I have been fighting a long time, no?"

"I would assume so."

"We both have seen friends come and go, no?"

"Again, I can only assume."

"These friends have given much for us to be here today. It would be disgraceful of us to just ignore that, no?"

"That it would be," she smiled slightly, fingers wrapping around her dog tags. "Thank you, Mirage."

"Some of us have been gifted with different insights into the workings of the universe. It is only fair we try to help others."

"Speaking of others," she looked over her shoulder as she heard a door open inside the house. Mirage looked to the corner of the house but stayed seated.

"Kara!" Will's voice echoed throughout the house. Her smile grew slightly, even when she told him she was safe he was concerned.

"Girl! Ya better be where ya said ya'd be!" Ironhide's voice proceed his appearance around the side of the house, his cannon's ready for action.

"I am, 'Hide. Put those away!" she shot him a glare before focus on the man racing out of the house. He spun to the side out of habit, gun up to aim at Mirage, who just watched him with mild amusement.

"You must be Captain William Lennox. Pleasure to meet you," Mirage inclined his head. "I am Mirage."

"Spy and gentlemen to the core," Prowl growled as he appeared behind Ironhide. "Area's secure, but it won't stay that way for long."

"Let's go, Princess," Will moved to her, shifting his rifle to his back as he looked her over, raising an eyebrow at the ensemble.

"Do not give me that look," she rolled her eyes. "I was taking your guys' advice and "trying" to be a girl."

"Yeah, well next time you can try where I can see you," Will stopped right by her and scooped her up, making her give a cutoff squeal of surprise before she hit him. He ignored her and headed towards the bots, "Lets go. We don't have a lot of time."

"Will, put me down!" Carolyn tried to struggle out of his arms, but they were surprisingly strong.

"Someone grab her bags, please. And no, I will not put you down. Every time I let you out of my sight, something happens and most of the time you get hurt," Will growled. Ironhide just let him pass as Prowl talked softly to Mirage, looking like they were in a slightly heated debate.

"Will, I am fine! Just a couple scratches," she huffed, falling still.

"Yeah, the bandages say the same thing," his eyes were hard.

"Will, what's the real problem here?" she searched his face, slightly confused.

"You are one of my men...no, one of my girls," Will looked down at her before focusing back on the ground in front of them. "I don't like seeing one of my girls hurt."

"Will, are you admitting you care about me?" she asked softly.

"You're part of my family, just like Epps is a part of my family and 'Hide is a part of my family. When we get back, one of the mechs is getting assigned to you," Will turned another corner and headed for the plane.

"Will...that's one of the nicest things someone has said to me," she blinked a few times. "But honestly, I'm a big girl and this is kind've weird for me."

"Your dignity can suffer for awhile. Its only Epps with and some of the mechs. You'll be fine," Will growled before a giant hand scooped them up.

"You two both need to relax. Kara is safe and you, Will, are not going to have a heart attack," Ironhide looked down at them as he carried them onto the plane, Prowl and Mirage right behind them.

"Kara's alright?" Epps was sitting on Ratchet's shoulder. Only Optimus was the other being in the plane that was visible.

"I am alright," she glared at Will, who still had his arms wrapped around her. He smiled as Ironhide set them down, Will somehow ending up back on his feet.

"Then why is Will carrying you?" Epps frowned as Will moved over to a bench and set her down.

"Cause he's an old worry wort," she snapped, trying to stand but Will pushed her back down.

"Really?" Will shook his head. "Just don't move, ok? Ratchet?"

"Her wounds have been cleaned, but I will need to stitch them when we get back to base. For now I just prescribe rest," Ratchet nodded, moving towards where Prowl was forcing Mirage down. "But I sense you may be more worrisome."

"Hatchet," Mirage nodded and Ratchet winced.

"That was one time!"

"Just get some sleep," Will grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders before sitting next to her.

"My vacation is ruined," she sighed, leaning back and closing her eyes.

"We can try someplace else."

"No, I'll just use my days to hide on the beach. I've done it before," she shrugged and tensed when she felt an arm wrap around her.

"Don't worry about it now, just get some sleep. We all know how little you've gotten," Will pulled her close so that her head rested on his shoulder.

"Yes, sir," she sighed, snuggling close and letting herself drift off.


	12. The New Director

Will got what he wanted, one of the Autobots was permanently assigned to Carolyn by the time she got off her "vacation", which consisted of lying on the beach of Diego Garcia, reading books and sleeping….a lot. As soon as she walked through the door of the command center two weeks later, Will was right by her side, steering her back out and towards the Autobots' quarters. It was kinda awkward, really, because she had really uncomfortable pumps on and a nice clean skirt and shirt, seeing as she was suppose to videoconference with Galloway today.

"Will, I would like to go to work," Carolyn sighed. She felt better and all she wanted to do now was get to work of getting the Autobots all set to move to Washington D.C. before someone else flew off the handle.

"We've got a little more time to get the Autobots moved. Galloway was sacked and we've got this new lady, Director Mearing. I think you'll like her," Will smiled, not removing his arm from around her shoulders. "But enough of that, I have a present for you."

"Oh, joy, a present. Will, if this is a tracking device from Wheeljack, I am shooting your balls off," she glared at him and he at least removed his arm, knowing full well she would do exactly as she said.

"Its not anything from Wheeljack. Optimus and I have been talking and we've finally decided on your guardian," Will opened the door for her.

"Should I be excited? Its not Ironhide cause we all know he won't leave you or your girls," she stopped, crossed her arms and glared at him. "If it's the Twins, both of you are dead."

"We aren't that mean!" Will looked horrified. "Actually, your guardian volunteered for the job. You'll like him."

"Him? So not the Arcee sisters," she sighed, still not moving. "Not Sideswipe, cause he's with Epps. Prowl? I can live with Prowl. We both like rules."

"Prowl already said no," a soft laugh came from behind her. "He does not think he would be fast enough for you. And we both know you already like Italian cars."

"So I get you," Carolyn spun around to see Mirage's holoform. "And what can you do that the others can't that will suit me?"

"Well, I'm fast, I turn into a Ferrari, I can disappear and I mean disappear," Mirage moved closer. "And I won't take any of your crap, as the others call it."

"He'll do," she glanced at Will, smiling a little. Will covered his face, sighing. Both of Carolyn's and Mirage's smiles looked exactly the same.

"Great, just great. For now, Mirage, you'll be with her most of the time till you're cleared for missions. Then we'll send you two back out into the field," Will moved into the Autobot hanger. Ironhide was waiting, lifting Will up to his shoulder before Will could do anything. Will sighed again and said nothing, just got comfortable as Ironhide moved to where Optimus, Ratchet, Prowl and a few others were waiting. Carolyn moved through the door as Mirage's holoform disappeared, his protoform moving to the door, looking smug.

"It shall be fun, no?" Mirage knelt down next to her as she stopped, crossing her arms.

"Lets get a few things straight right away. We can flirt, but it's only to piss everyone else off. When we go on missions, I will be involved. I ain't a damn damsel in distress. I like my sleep, so no late night calls unless it's absolutely necessary. Am I clear?" she glared at him and Mirage became serious.

"This goes both ways. I may have been a noble, but I am loyal to the Autobots. I will flirt with you, but only when I'm bored or the others are bothering me. As long as you stay out of the way of my blades, you can fight. You are to not enter my quarters unless you knock," Mirage held out a finger.

'We'll type up a list later," Carolyn smiled a little, shaking the finger before climbing into Mirage's hand. She pulled her pumps off as Mirage carried her over to the others before sitting down on the edge of his hand, nodding to the others. "What's the plan for today."

"Our lovely new director has decided, as her first order of business, to inspect Diego Garcia," Will looked over the Autobots. "The men are already doing their part, we just need to remind you guys of the ground rules till we get a feel for her."

"Can anyone tell me about her? Should I pull out my mani/peti set or the rifle?" Carolyn swung her legs a little as all eyes turned to her. "I'm sorry, but some of you didn't obviously read by memo on calling me if anything super important happened while I was at the beach."

"We got it, we just chose to ignore it," Epps shrugged from his spot on Sideswipes shoulder. "We only found out two days ago, so no biggie."

"Ok, so is she Galloway's evil twin or not?"

"We don't know," Optimus shook his head. "She's been dealing directly with the General. This will be the first time any of us speak to her."

"When should she be getting here?"

"Anytime now," Will shrugged. "Smokescreen is keeping an eye on the air traffic. He'll contact Optimus and us when her plane comes in."

"Wonderful. Lets go, Mirage," she looked at him.

"Why?" Mirage cocked his head to the side.

"I have to make sure the base doesn't blow up and you have to learn how to treat a director," she nodded to the door. "Go."

"I thought I had good manners," Mirage frowned, carrying her away from the others.

"You do, but there's a whole new set of rules when dealing with the Director of Nest," Carolyn then started to explain to Mirage what he could and could not do today.

Later that day…

"I hate this stuff," Will growled to Carolyn as they stood ready to welcome whoever got off the taxiing plane.

"Don't even start," she hissed back. "I am the only one here in something looking anywhere near professional."

"We really can't wear our uniforms. There's too many of them. Go simple," Will shrugged slightly. He had a point, seeing as the Nest team here was made up of soldiers from at least ten different countries. All of the men were wearing their all black combat uniforms while she had been forced into a black suit jacket, white long sleeved shirt, black skirt and back into the black pumps from hell.

"Do you think I really care?" Carolyn growled. "I'm the one wearing the heels!"

"You could've worn flats," Epps hissed from her other side.

"No, I couldn't," she hissed back. "I have to look professional for all the rest of you."

"Oh, thanks," Epps growled.

"Stow it, all three of you," Ironhide growled from behind them as the plane came to a stop and the stairs were lowered. A woman, about 35-40, got off first. She had dirty blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, glasses and a black dress suit and pants. She was wearing black flats, earning a scowl from Carolyn and hidden smirks from Epps and Will. She almost bounced down the steps and stalked over to them, a young Asian woman close behind.

"Hello, I am Director Mearing," she held out her hand to Will. "And you are now Colonel William Lennox."

"Yes, ma'am," Will nodded, hiding his confusion as she moved down the line to Carolyn.

"And you are Captain Carolyn Williams," she had a firm grip and the two woman eyed each other up. Charlotte Mearing was just a little shorter than Carolyn, but older. She was slightly slimmer and not as well muscled as Carolyn. Mearing knew that even though Lennox was officially in charge, Carolyn was just as important to the group. The girl was used to being the ONLY woman on base and now she had Mearing to deal with.

Carolyn raised an eyebrow at Mearing, her face stony," Director Mearing, it is a pleasure to have you on base. The men have training missions with the Autobots this morning, so I will be giving you the grand tour here."

"Thank you, Captain Williams," Mearing nodded, glancing at Lennox. "Will you be joining us, Colonel?"

"No, Ma'am, Optimus Prime and myself have a mission briefing with General Morshower in about twenty minutes," Lennox shook his head as said Autobot knelt down behind the humans and Mearing got her first good look at her newest assignment.

"It is good to meet you, Director Mearing. I am hoping you will fit this position better than your predecessor," Optimus Prime's voice was low and calm, but his warning got across all the same. The Autobots may not hurt her, but they knew people who would if she messed with their family.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Optimus Prime, and all of the Autobots," Mearing nodded. "Let me make one thing clear. I don't want any of your weapons….unless they are used to HURT humans. Am I understood?"

"We shall see," Optimus nodded. This was going to be interesting.

"We'll start with your office," Carolyn broke in, stepping between the two. "Behave, everyone, or you will have it coming."

Seems that she could handle these robots just fine. Wonder how she did it. Mearing followed Carolyn away from the men as the men dispersed, headed off to other duties. Mearing eyed Carolyn's shoes, then glanced back at her aide," Shoes."

The woman nodded as both stopped and high tops were placed on the ground and the flats were placed in a bag. Carolyn watched it all with amused eyes. Mearing looked back at her challengingly," You fault for wearing heels."

"Doesn't matter what I'm wearing as long as it can be used to kill something," she countered and Mearing smiled a little.

"How about we both change and you show me this training exercise the men are doing?" Mearing offered as a truce. Carolyn smiled and nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

Back by the hanger, the boys watched the interaction warily. Epps looked at the others, humans and Autobots alike, "We're doomed."


	13. Changing Times

_It had been a bad week, a bad month overall. It was as though all the Decepticons and politicians had had a secret powwow and decided that this month they were going to work together on giving all the NEXT operatives hell. She had spent the better part of two weeks with Will arguing it out with senators and the Sec Def over the need to move the base out of the middle of Washington D.C. No one would listen! They thought that the Autobots would be within easy reach and better able to protect them in the middle of a highly populated area. Then, the Decepticons, what was left of them anyways, had popped up, just causing general mayhem. It was enough to piss her off, which was too much. Will was taking it alright, as was Epps and the others, but they weren't the ones forced into short dresses and miniskirts in Russia! Of course, Mirage, or Ragi as she called him, went everywhere with her, having making it his duty to keep her safe. He was a new one, recently joined, but the red Ferrari was a spunky little guy. No one really noticed, but she did. He was the way he was for a reason. Kinda reminded her of Erika. Trying to live one life but wanting to be a part of another._

_The worst part of this last mission was that communications between them and the rest of NEST had been jammed. They had gone twenty-four hours without a single word from anyone. Twenty-four hours had been too long. At hour two, the Decepticons had attacked and from then on, she and Ragi had been on the run. On the run in the middle of Africa in a shiny red Ferrari. On the run in the middle of Africa with white hair, a very tight tank top and very short shorts. Not her favorite mission by far. She had come out looking the better of the two. She had been afraid that last hour, cornered with Blackout and Barricade closing in. Ragi had done all he could to keep her out of the fight, but that didn't last long. He would've been dead and she didn't want to think where she would be if Bumblebee and Prowl hadn't shown up when they did. Ironhide and Will had met them at the airbase just as they had been towed in. She had spent two nights under Ratchet's care, making sure her bones were setting right and her concussion gone before being released. As of an hour ago, Ragi had yet to wake up from a forced recharge. Ratchet had said he wouldn't wake him up until the next morning. That left her twelve hours, 23 minutes, and 34 seconds of waiting. 33 seconds now. Okay, not allowed to look at her watch for at least five minutes._

_Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her onto her bed as someone sat next to her. She leaned against the body, heat soaking into her frozen skin. Steady yet soft hands gently rubbed her shoulders, working the kinks out. She sighed, falling into the touch. She was still too worked up from the mission to sleep, to relax. It felt like so was he. She felt his warm hand pull her chin up and felt his lips press into hers and just let her mind go blank. She didn't care anymore. She needed a break._

When Carolyn came to, all she heard was shooting and yelling. Her body was one throbbing pain source and something cold was pressed into her left side. She tried to move and hissed as her ribs complained, but she forced herself and her eyes open. It looked to be about twilight, sand blowing all around her….sand…they were still in the desert. She groaned, looking at the metal thing supporting her at the moment. Mirage knelt over her, firing around the edge of a cliff, looking grim and beaten up. The yelling was coming from somewhere else. She rested her hand on Mirage's leg, causing him to look down briefly," How ya feeling, C?"

"Been better," she grunted as she forced herself to stand, using Mirage as a support. "How are you holding up?"

"Just fine. You scared me back there," he growled. "Don't ever do that again."

"They were going to kill you, Raag. I wasn't going to leave you," She looked around for a weapon and Mirage dropped her rifle down at her feet.

"Figured you'd want it. They've got us boxed in, so unless we get help soon….." Mirage focused back on firing. "Still nothing."

"They'll come, "she moved to lean against the cliff and peered around the edge. She counted three Decepticons before ducking back, "Who do we got?"

"Blackout and Barricade are still in it and the last one I don't know," Mirage fired a few well place shots to keep them away. "My cloak is broke, so no sneaking out."

"We'll just keep fighting. Someone will come," deep down inside, she didn't believe herself. Something dripped on her as she fired a few shots and looked down at the bluish liquid before looking up at Mirage, taking in the damage done to her guardian.

"I'm fine, Carolyn," Mirage growled.

"How much have you lost?" She fired a few more shots. Mirage didn't answer, "How long can you last?"

"Maybe another hour, depending," Mirage grunted. "I will be fine."

"Mirage," she sighed and kept firing. Now was not the time. Time passed slowly. Every time one of the Decepticons tried to move forward, they fired a few shots to scare them back. Mexican standoff?

"Kara," Mirage grunted and it was all the warning she got before he jerked back as Ravage attacked him. She turned and fired at the cat, trying to destroy it. How many times did this thing come back to life? Mirage ripped Ravage off him and fired a blast through the cat's head. He let the form drop and slumped back, clutching his shoulder as his optics flickered a little, "Keep 'em….away."

"Mirage," she was torn but turned back to the entrance and quickly fired at Barricade as the 'Con came around the corner. A few well placed shots scared him back, but she knew he saw Mirage. It was only a matter of time before all three charged, "Mirage, you need to stay with me. We're getting out of this, you just have to help me."

"Not….not going anywhere," Mirage's voice was soft. "Here they come."

Barricade and Blackout came around the corner together, blades out instead of guns. Both were smiling evilly as they charged into the little canyon. Carolyn fired rapidly, trying to hit joints in the legs as Mirage somehow got his gun up and aimed for their chests. Barricade reached Carolyn first and slammed the flat of his blade into her, throwing her off to the side. She slammed into the canyon wall, the breath being knocked out of her as she slid down to the ground. She looked up to see Mirage weakly trying to hold the two 'Cons off. She looked around for her rifle and saw it a few feet away. She tried to move and her body screamed in protest, causing tears to form in her eyes, but she pushed on. She had to get to her rifle to stop the 'Cons from ripped Mirage apart. Mirage grunted as Blackout stabbed his leg. Just a little further. As her fingers brushed the barrel of her rifle. Something slammed into Blackout, throwing the 'Con near her. She looked up in horror as the 'Con's eyes fell on her and he snarled, reaching for her but someone shot him, the shot going right through his neck, severing his head from his body. His body fell limp as silence fell over the canyon…

"Bee, check on Carolyn. I'll call for back up. Come on, Mirage, stay with me," Prowl was here. Prowl had saved them….

"Carolyn?" a surprisingly gently metal finger brushed her back. "Carolyn, are you with us?"

"Bee," she rolled onto her back, looking up at the concerned little mech. "Ragi?"

"Prowl has him. Help is on the way," Bee knelt next to her, looking her over, making sad little noises.

"He…he needs….fuel….badly," she forced out, wincing as things in her chest moved in ways they shouldn't.

"Prowl is taking care of it. Just stay with me," Bee rested a finger by her hand and she grabbed it weakly, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Stay with me, girlie."

"Gotta….gotta make," her entire body felt heavy and the heaviest part of all was her eyelids. "Bee…you gotta…."

"Stay with me," Bee's voice started to fade. "Ratchet's almost here. Come on, Carolyn. Stay with m….."

She didn't know when exactly everything when from a suffocating black pit to fluffy white clouds, but at some point it did. Some part of her mind figured it was about the time someone gave her a lot of morphine. Made sense. Another part, a part she rarely listened to, except the one time she tried whatever the girls had gotten their hands on one weekend junior year and didn't remember how she ended up in Benny Johnson's bed the next morning, said she was back at that point of glorious oblivion linked to the white powder in the little sandwich bag. She never tried anything ever again.

"You tried drugs?" Will's voice broke through her thoughts and forced her to leave her bubble of numbness for at least a short while. The first thing she noticed was the hand gripping hers. It wasn't tight, but the grip conveyed the attached person was worried. She forced her eyes open to see Will leaning over her a little and instead of a darkening sky over her there was the dull grey of metal.

"Plead the 5th," she rasped out, looking down at the hand attached to hers before following it up the arm, over the shoulder, up the neck to Will's face. "Why are you holding my hand?"

"Ahhh…" Will blinked a few times before grabbed a cup of water. "You thirsty?"

"My hand, Colonel, why are you holding it?" she attempted to glare, her mind at least did it but she wasn't sure it made it to her face. She could tell by her half loopy state that Ratchet had her on the good stuff. She allowed Will to help her take a sip from the cup.

"I was worried," Will mumbled as he put the cup back. "It's what people do when someone they care for get hurt."

"Just a flesh wound, sir," she tried to joke and he did give a small smile for her effort.

"Well, I'm sorry but I'm going to stick with what the Doc says, not you," Will squeezed her hand gently. "We started looking as soon as you didn't check in, but we had to get Bee over to track you. We got there as soon as we could, you have to understand."

"I know, Will, I know," she squeezed his hand back. "How's Mirage?"

At that Will's smile faltered and her heart sunk as he let out a sigh, "He's not looking as good as you. Ratchet forced him into recharge shortly after he got to your location. Damage was…. Extensive."

"I want to see him," she tried to sit up, but it was more of a pathetic flapping of limbs and hisses of pain before his other hand pushed gently down on her shoulder.

"All you have to do is turn your head towards me more and you can see him," Will moved a little and she turned her head more to see her guardian. He looked horrible, his red paint dented and scratched, his body limp. She felt her lip wiggle a bit and looked away, blinking furiously. Will squeezed her hand again, "Look, I know what you're going through. Remember Kandahar?"

"Who doesn't?" She mumbled.

"Me and 'Hide were both in a bad way and it was a close call on both our parts, but I woke first and you know what? I'm glad I did because I'm pretty sure their sparks would have broken a whole lot more than our hearts do," Will looked over her head and she could only assume Ironhide was in that direction. "We can never hope to understand their depth of emotion, Care, but I think we can just be happy they do. Mirage will be fine, Ratchet just did what he did to save some vital systems of Mirage's. He said if he hadn't, he didn't think there would have been anyway to reprogram Mirage's cloaking program."

"He loves that more than anything," she whispered.

"Exactly. He kept 'Hide under for three days just so that he was sure letting him wake up wouldn't mess with his targeting systems. Ratchet knows what he's doing," Will smiled down at her. "I'm gonna be here for you just like you were there for me after Kandahar."

"We'll always have Sydney," Carolyn smiled a little.

"That one wasn't bad. Athens was way worse," Will winced at the memory. "I'm pretty sure they forced Optimus to write a new policy so that we could never go on a mission without an Autobot with."

"It was all your fault," Carolyn giggled. "All you had to do was pretend to be my boyfriend. Sarah even gave me kissing tips."

"Epps gave me his wooing tips list," Will chuckled. "And how was it my fault?"

"I told you to get oranges and instead you got peaches. I told you the peach seller looked evil," she squeezed his hand, blinking furiously, trying to stay awake.

"Go back to sleep, we can finish this argument later," Will leaned down and kissed her forehead gently as her eyes slid closed.


	14. Author's Note

So I'm sorry to all of my readers, I really am. I feel horrible for not posting like I should be its just that right now things are kind've...well, its kind've a writer's block but also an emotional block right now. I just can't think up ideas right now and I just kind've feel like I'm floating in the middle of the sea so give me sometime. I will post. I promise. I'm not gonna leave my readers. Gosh, I think that would make me feel even worse. You guys are honestly right now a very solid rock for me. I come on here and see everyone who reads my stories or reread your comments and it helps.

This is not a pity letter, I just felt you all deserved to know that I am sorry for not posting and I am working on getting something up for you.

Just give me time.

Codywolf


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